Kumar Bangarappa to be BJP candidate against his JDS brother in Sorab?

Belagavi, Jun 25: Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi on Wednesday said that coronavirus was created to "scare us" and to create tensions on the border, in an apparent reference to China.

He said that everyone should learn to live with the virus and follow all norms needed to combat the disease.

"We all know who created the coronavirus. It was created to scare us and to create tensions on the border, we know who did it. We have to learn to live with the coronavirus. We do not need to be scared of it. We must maintain social distancing and follow all the sanitation norms," Angadi told reporters here.

Karnataka on Wednesday reported 397 new COVID-19 positive cases, taking the total count in the state to 10,118.

According to the state health department, the state's death toll has reached 164 after 14 fatalities were reported. As many as 6,151 people have been discharged so far.

Bengaluru, Jan 31: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday got the green signal from the BJP central leadership for the much-awaited cabinet expansion in the state and he is mostly likely to induct 11 ministers. Yediyurappa said the date of swearing-in will be decided in a day or two, although he indicated that it would most likely be held on February 3.

Currently, there are 18 ministers, including the chief minister, in the cabinet that has a sanctioned strength of 34. Sixteen berths are vacant. "Many of our suggestions have been accepted by Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda. If there are differences, we will discuss in Bengaluru and finalise it," Yediyurappa told reporters after meeting Shah in the Parliament Complex here.

Except for one or two, most of the disqualified JDS-Congress MLAs who got re-elected in the bypolls on BJP tickets will be made ministers, he said, adding there won't be any additional deputy chief ministers. However, sources said, a total of 11 ministers would be inducted into the cabinet.

"We discussed yesterday and now also. Shah has agreed to almost everything," Yediyurappa said, adding he is returning back "happy" after getting the nod for the cabinet expansion. "I am going happy," he said.

Yediyurappa had been anxiously waiting for the party high command's approval to expand his ministry amid intense lobbying by the aspirants. Opposition parties have been critical of the BJP and Yediyurappa over the delay in the cabinet expansion, alleging he was weak and that his administration had collapsed.

Bengaluru, Mar 11: Did Congress party’s Man Friday, DK Shivakumar, not rise up to the occasion and save the situation for the party, whose rebel MLAs were flown into Bengaluru to unsettle the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh? Shivakumar told The New Indian Express on Tuesday, “So far, I have not got any clear direction on what has to be done. But I am in touch with the central leaders. The party does not want to antagonise them... They are our own MLAs.”

He said that the Tenth Schedule, which makes defections illegal, is very strong. “It is not so easy for them once they are expelled. There are courts and then they have to get re-elected. It is not easy to get minister’s post after getting re-elected,” he added.

When pointed out that rebels from the Congress and JD(S) who joined the BJP have got re-elected and become ministers, he said, “There are other issues here.”

Asked about Digvijay Singh, who is at the centre of the controversy in MP and who was AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, not being able to prevent the rebellion in his home state, Shivakumar said, “I do not want to comment on any of our national leaders.”But he was confident that the Congress government would be saved in MP. “I am aware of the developments and keeping track of them,” he said.

Congress leaders seemed wiser after the event.

One of them, who wished not to be identified, said the party clearly did not see the writing on the wall. “Jyotiraditya Scindia supported the BJP at the Centre when it scrapped Article 370. Later too he was not in line with the Congress position on several issues. But during the recent Delhi violence, he criticised the BJP, sending confusing signals,” he added.